Remittances are above $2bn in 21st month

KARACHI: Remittances from overseas workers surged 2 percent on a month-on-month basis in February to clock in at $2.2 billion, after declining 14.9 percent in January 2022.
According to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan on Thursday, remittances on a year-on-year basis fell by 2.7 percent as compared to February 2021. Overall, the monthly remittances have been maintaining more than $2 billion psychological level since June 2020.
The remittances during the first eight months of the current fiscal year 2021-22 have shown a growth of 7.6 percent to reach $20.1 billion on a year-on-year basis.
Country wise, remittance inflows during February 2022 were mainly sourced from Saudi Arabia ($558 million), United Arab Emirates ($387 million), United Kingdom ($319 million) and United States of America ($210 million).
Earlier last month, remittances declined by 14.9 percent on a month-on-month basis in January 2022, amounting to $2.14 billion. This had been the lowest monthly remittance figure since August 2020.
Pakistan heavily relies on remittance inflows to boost its foreign currency reserves that remain under pressure due to a high current account deficit, imports and external debt repayments. – TLTP